Apparatus for sorting articles having an asymmetrical end



G. V. MARTIN July 6, 1965 APPARATUS FOR SORTING ARTICLES HAVING AN ASYMMETRICAL END Filed Jan. 7, 1965 am Y I. E mT N United States Patent 3,193,096 APPARATUS FOR SORTING ARTICLES HAVING AN ASYMMETRICAL END George V. Martin, Berwyn, IlL, assignor to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Jan. 7, 1963, Ser. No. 249,899 1 Claim. (Cl. 209--74) The present invention relates generally to sorting apparatus, and more particularly to apparatus for sorting articles having an end which is asymmetrical with respect to a centerline of the article.

Despite great technological advances in the manufacturing and assembling arts, industry is still plagued with the intricate task of sorting component parts so that only properly oriented parts are presented for insertion into an assembly. The shapes and sizes of such parts vary greatly, complicating the problem grossly, and though every sorting device must have regard for the shape and size of a particular part, few devices have regard for a broad category of sizes and shapes so as to be operable on all such part-s. Further, even fewer devices take advantage of such inherent characteristics as shape and size to cooperate so intimately that the parts, in effect, sort themselves.

Accordingly, the general objects of the present invention are to provide new and improved apparatus for sorting articles having an asymmetrical end, and more specifi cally, articles having an end which is asymmetrical with respect to a longitudinal centerline of the article.

Further objects of the invention are to provide new and improved apparatus for sorting articles having an asymmetrical end with respect to a centerline of the article, which apparatus utilizes advantageously and actively the inherent configuration of the article to cooperate in effect ing the sorting operation.

The particular application contemplated for such apparatus involves the insertion of an insert, having inwardly directed serrations, into a close-fitting shell in the assembly of an electrical crimp connector. Such shells must be sorted and fed into the assembly apparatus in a particular orientation (namely, with a beveled open end presented last and at a particular disposition, to the inserting apparatus) or else insertion of the insert into the shell cannot be effected.

Several problems arise in connect-ion with the sorting of such shells, stemming from the smallness in size of the shell and from the large number of possible orientations the shells can assume. Specifically, the shells have a pair of opposed plane side walls and a pair of arcuate side walls, the beveled open end and a rounded closed end; thus, each shell can assume eight possible orientations, each of which varies the handling requirements. To further complicate matters, the sorting apparatus must be virtually infallible, since improperly oriented shells jam the inserting apparatus. In addition, the shells must be sorted very rapidly in order to keep pace with the inserting apparatus which handles shells at a rate of approximately 100 shells per minute.

Therefore, more specific objects of the invention are to provide new and improved apparatus for sorting articles having an asymmetrical end, which apparatus utilizes the inherent configuration of the article to cooperate actively with the apparatus to effect the sorting operation, and which apparatus effects the sorting operation efficiently, effectively, and expediently, and with fail-safe accuracy and dependability.

Apparatus in accordance with the invention and accomplishing the above objects, includes a first and second rotatable means spaced apart and resiliently biased relatively together so that generally continuous peripheral ice surfaces thereof are disposed in facing relationship and define a restrictive throat therebetween. A mechanism is provided for driving an article having an asymmetrical end through the restrictive throat generally in the direction of the centerline of asymmetry, the peripheral surfaces defining the restrictive throat normally being spaced apart a distance less than the corresponding dimension of an article so driven such that the rotatable means yield against the biasing force thereon when an article is driven therebetween. With such apparatus, articles having the asymmetrical end dispensed last from between the rotatable means are deflected angularly toward the rotatable means which cleaves longest to the edges of the article.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, the first and second rotatable means comprise a pair of rollers, one of which is mounted for limited movement toward and away from the other and is resiliently biased toward the other. Further, the driving mechanism acts upon the articles by rotating the rollers in synchronism and in opposite directions, so that articles fed into the restrictive throat are gripped, drawn between, and dispensed from the rollers.

Other objects, advantages and aspects of the invention will appear from the following detailed description of a specific embodiment thereof when taken in conjunction with the appended drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an enlarged plan view of an article acted upon in the sorting operation of a preferred application of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectionalview of the article, taken generally along the line 22 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of a preferred embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the preferred embodiment taken generally along the line 44 in FIG 3.

It is necessary at the outset to discuss the general category of articles upon which the invention is intended to be operative, because the apparatus relies upon certain characteristics in the configuration of the article for cooperation in effecting the sorting operation. Basically, the articles contemplated are those having an end which is asymmetrical with respect to any centerline of the article, but it is preferably that the axis of asymmetry be the longitudinal centerline of the article for reasons which will become apparent from the description which follows.

An article 10 exemplary of this configuration is featured in FIGS. 1 and 2, and is composed of a pair of arcuate side walls 1111 and a pair of plane side walls 12 and 13, which are convergent at one end and form a rounded nose portion 14. The arcuate side walls 11-11 are beveled at an open end 16 of the article 10, and consequently the plane side walls 12 and 13 are of unequal lengths-side wall 12 being the shorter of the two.

Each article 10 composes the shell of an electrical crimp connector, and are to be fed to an inserting apparatus wherein a snug-fitting insert is inserted therewithin. The inherent configuration of the shells requires that successive shells being fed to the inserting apparatus be oriented in a particular manner, that is, the beveled open end thereof must be presented last and in a particular disposition, to the inserting apparatus, in order to permit proper reception of the insert within the shell.

The above-mentioned characteristics of the article 10 are of paramount importance in the invent-ion for effecting the sorting of the articles for proper presentment to the inserting apparatus. To recapitulate, therefore, the article 19 has a symmetrical end, formed by the rounded nose portion 14, and an asymmetrical end, formed by the beveled end 16, with respect to the longitudinal centerline, designated A in FIG. 1, of the article.

Turning now to the sorting apparatus, depicted in FIG. 3, the articles lit-10 are initially received in the upper 9:; end of a vertical feed tube 17. Articles receivedin the tube 17, fall by gravity into a restrictive throatilS defined bet-ween opposed peripheral surfaces 19 and of a pair of gripping rollers 21 and 22. The tube 17 is designed with a configurati'onconforming to that of the article v10 so that the articles are received in the restrictive throat .18 with the plane side walls 12 and 13 facing to' wards the rollers 21 and 22.

, The rollers 21 and 22 are spaced apart with the periph 1 tion X and Y may be predicted as closely approximating Thus, when rotated in synchronism in the appropriate di- 3 rections by a drive mechanism 23, the rollers 21 and 22 yield slightly to grip the plane sides 12 and 13 of an article 10 received in the restrictive throat 18 and draw the article therethrough. Such action of the rollers 21 and 22 also provides a valve mechanism for the feed tube 17, permitting articles 1010 to be received within the restrictive throat 18 only one at a time, as the preceding article is being drawn between the rollers.

Having oriented the article 10 with the plane side walls 12 and 13 facing the rollers 21 and 22, there remains three orientations of the article to be deciphered and separated by the sorting apparatus. Specifically, articles having the asymmetrical, beveled end pointed up must be separated from articles having it pointed down, and V beveled-end-up articles must fort-hen be divided into groups with the bevel pointed exclusively to the left or to' the right. The beveled-end-down articles, need not be separated into two groups because they must be turned end for end and vrecycled through the sorting apparatus before they can be properly presented to the inserting apparatus.

With regard to the rollers 21 and 22, the directions up and down contradistinguish articles having the'b'eveled end dispensed last and firstfrom between the rollers, re-

a line tangent to the rollerexerting independent influence,

at the point around its circumference where the article sever-s contact therewith. The spacing of the tubes and 26 beneath the rollers 21 and 22 is determined by the length of the article 10, and is calculated such that as the article is deflected outwardly,'it will clear the innermost wall 27 of the respective tube, but will engage the outermost wall 28. The tangential thrust in combination with gravity,thereafter propel the article into that tube while the initial orientation of the plane side walls 12 and 13 is maintained. r

Thus, the sorting apparatus utilized in this preferred application separates articles having a beveled end thereof pointing up from articles having it pointed down, and further divides the bevel-end-uparticles into a first group with the beveled end pointing toward the left and a second group having that end pointing toward the right. As a result, the bevel-end-up articles with the bevel in the proper disposition, maybe fed directly to the inserting apparatus. The beveled-end-up articles with the bevel 'wrongly disposed, need only be turned side for side 180 degrees before'they also maybe fed to the inserting apparatus. Finally, the beveled-end-down articles are turned end forend and recycled through the sorting apparatus, and then they too may be fed to the inserting appara-tus; 'Itwill be noted in that respect, that the sorting apparatus is completely tail 'safe'in that only beveledend-up articles can possibly be deflected, and if for some reason one of them is not, it is merely recycled through the sorting apparatus.

In order to accomplish theabove sorting operation so that all articles will'be properly deflected, it is desirable peripheral surfaces 19 and 20, which material deforms when an article is'drawn between .the rollers and thereby the peripheral'surfaces 19 and 20 of the rollers 21 and 22 simultaneously. That is, because of the symmetry of the nose portion 14, neither roller exerts an independ ent influenoe'on the article 10. As stated above, these articles 10-10 are turned end for end through the sorting apparatus.

However, articles 1010 with the asymmetrical or beveled end 16' dispensed last from the rollers 21 and 22, are deflected either to the left or to the right, depending upon whether the beveled end is pointed to the left or to the right, respectively. Specifically, .articles 10-10 and recycled drawn through the restrictive throat 18 withv the beveled end .16 pointed upward and to the left are dispensed with a deflection to the left because the peripheral surface 20 of the roller severs con-tact with the side 12, because it is shorter, while the roller 21 continues momentarily in con-' tact with the side 13. Consequently, the roller 21 exerts fluence on the article by momentarily delayed severing of contact with the longer side 13. V

The articles deflected to the left or to the right are respectively received in one ofla pair of angular repository tubes 25 and 26 disposed beneath the rollers 21 and 22 in alignment with the respective direction of deflection X both resiliently and frictionally engages the adjacent edges of the article to exert proper influence thereover.

Preferably, such resiliency is .provided extrinsically by allowing one of the rollers to float a predetermined distance,horizontally, relative to the other roller, but also providing a continuous biasing force on the floating roller toward the other roller. This is accomplished by mounting the rollers 21' and 22 for-rotation with horizontal shifts 29 and 30, respectively; the shaft 29 and attached roller21 being coupled directly to a motor 31. The shaft 30 and attached roller 22 are driven in synchr-onism with,

but in a direction contrary to, the shaft 29 and the roller 21 by a pair of gears32 32,'onemounted securely to each of the shafts and engaged with the other.

The shaft 30 is rotatably mounted in a floatmember 33 'slidably mounted on a pair of spaced pins 34-34 projecting horizontally from a support standard 35, the pins being received in a pairof slots 3636. The lengths of the slots 3 636 define the-predetermined distance the roller 22 is to float relative to, the roller 21,.and are such that the gears 3232 cannot disengage from each other.

The float member 33 is biasedtoward the shaft 29 (to the left as viewed in FIG. 3) by avspring 37 mounted in the support standard 35. In this manner the rollers 21 and 22 are rotatedin synchronism in opposite directions, and are provided with an extrinsic resiliency which in-. sures aproper influence of the rollers on anar ticle 10.

Thus, when therollers 21 and 22 are rotated in such directions as to draw an article 10 through the restrictive throat 18 therebetween .(roller 21, clockwise, and roller 22, counterclockwiseas 'viewed in FIG. 3), the roller 22 floatshorizontally awayfrom the roller 21 (to the right), only that amount required to permit the article 10 to pass therebetween While the rollers maintain gripping contact with the article due to the action of the spring 37.

While one specific embodiment is described in detail hereinabove, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

Apparatus for sorting articles having an asymmetrical end and a symmetrical end, relative to a longitudinal centerline of the article, which comprises:

a pair of rollers disposed for rotation about horizontal axes, and spaced apart to define a restrictive throat with the peripheral surfaces thereof in facing relationship and normally separated by a distance less than the width of an article;

a gravity feed tube mounted in vertical alignment above the restrictive throat for feeding articles one at a time lengthwise into the restrictive throat with a predetermined orientation;

first and second gears each coupled directly to an associated one of said rollers and arranged in meshing engagement with each other;

meansfor rotating one of said gears, which rotation is transmitted to the associated roller and through the other of said gears to its associated roller so that said rollers are rotated in synchronism and in opposite directions;

means for supporting one of said rollers and attached gear for limited translational movement away from the other roller and attached gear to the extent that said respective gears are not disengaged;

resilient means for biasing said one roller and attached gear toward said other roller and attached gear, said resilient means being compressed as an article is drawn between the rollers and exerting a force on said one roller such that articles dispensed from between said rollers with the asymmetrical end last are angularly deflected toward the roller which cleaves longest to the edges of the article because of such asymmetry, and such that articles dispensed with the symmetrical end last continue with an undeflected course because of such symmetry; and

a pair of repository chutes disposed at discrete angles to and in close proximity beneath said rollers, the angles at which said chutes are disposed being such that articles deflected angularly toward one or the other of said rollers are propelled into an associated one of said repository chutes, while articles dispensed with an undeflected course are propelled between said repository chutes.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,669,087 5/28 Hungerford.

1,837,299 12/31 Taggart 209l08 2,663,420 12/53 Palmer 209-81 XR 2,919,917 1/60 Worswick 209- XR ROBERT B. REEVES, Acting Primary Examiner.

SAMUEL F. COLEMAN, Examiner. 

